


Shattered

by Eccentric_Reader



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, BAMF Hela (Marvel), But also a little crack, Fix-It, Gen, Hela has issues, Hela lives, Hela-centric, I can't tell yet but most people are probably going to be in this, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Not Canon Compliant, Odin's A+ Parenting (Marvel), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Redemption, Thor: Ragnarok (2017), cause it's valkyrie, loki lives, never meant for it to get so complicated oops, she's trying, some blood, won't be for a couple more chapters though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:41:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29827881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eccentric_Reader/pseuds/Eccentric_Reader
Summary: After her father's death, Hela steps out of her prison, expecting to go back to Asgard and claim her throne. But on her way, chasing after her brothers in the Bifrost, Thor manages to kick her out- sending her spiraling down to Sakaar.Or: In which Valkyrie enjoys herself, Hulk has a personality (and makes some friends), and Hela confronts the reality that she may have- possibly- been wrong.Who would've guessed?
Relationships: Brunnhilde | Valkyrie & Hela (Marvel), Hela & Hulk (Marvel), Hela & Loki & Thor (Marvel), Hela & Loki (Marvel)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is something that's been bouncing around in my head for a while, and so I figured why not, I'll write it. 
> 
> Regular Readers: sorry :/ I haven't abandoned anything, I'm just... taking a small break because I have no idea where i'm going with it and basically no motivation. also i've had marvel on the mind (blame wandavision) and couldn't get it out or concentrate on other stuff until I wrote something about it. if you like the mcu feel free to dive in, if not, the next chapter of my other work will be up a while from now but not /too/ long. i may post other one shots and things for the bigger series, though, or just random shit for hp, i haven't /completely/ abandoned that universe, dw
> 
> Enjoy!

_ Finally. _

Cold blue eyes snapped open as the last, weakening chains holding Hela in her cold prison finally snapped. Power rushed through her veins once more, and she felt a surge in energy that she hadn’t felt in over a thousand years. 

_ She was free. _

She stepped through a portal, emerging from the depths of her prison- her  _ cage _ \- and onto a sickeningly picturesque cliff overlooking a glimmering ocean. How…  _ revolting. _ The only appealing part of the scene was the rolling, dark clouds gathering in the sky. Even with the dark sky, she felt a slight headache forming at the light- one of Hel’s less appealing qualities was the overwhelming darkness. 

Brushing aside the slight headache forming at the sudden barrage on her senses (pain was for the weak, anyway, and she was anything but weak,  _ she wasn’t allowed to be weak… _ ), she focused on the two men standing with clenched fists in front of her. She wondered what Odin had told them before his death- nothing flattering, she was guessing. (Odin had never said anything flattering about her before- why should he start now?) 

“So he’s dead?” They don’t answer. Of course they don’t- it is obvious, after all, and they don’t seem to be able to muster up anything other than sullen glares anyway.

“That’s a shame. I would’ve liked to have seen that.” But, alas, one cannot have everything in life. 

It takes another moment for one of them to respond, and when they do, it is the blonde one that speaks. “You must be Hela. I’m Thor, son of Odin.”

“Really? You don’t look like him.” He did, a little bit- the look of furious rage on his face was by no means unfamiliar to her- but he had Frigga’s eyes.

“Perhaps we could come to an arrangement,” the smaller, darker one spoke up. 

She didn’t bother hiding the sneer on her face. The immediate turn to  _ negotiations _ was, unfortunately, reminiscent of the Odin who decided, suddenly, that conquering was no longer the way of the Asgardian people. “You  _ sound _ like him.”

They, again, say nothing, as the small one shifts uncomfortably (good) and Thor scowls at her, gripping his-  _ hers, actually _ \- hammer tighter. Hmm. Where is the kneeling? The respect? The  _ fear _ ? They may be sons of Odin- and, unfortunately, her brothers- but that by no means meant that she would abide by their disrespect and utter regard to her status.

“Kneel.”

They gape at her. The small one narrowed his eyes at her, looking a little confused and more than a little offended. “Beg your pardon?”

Oh, honestly. Does she have to drag  _ everything _ out of these dolts? She summoned a pitch black blade. “ _ Kneel _ ,” she commanded. “Before your queen.”

Even her, the goddess of death, thought that maybe throwing a hammer at her had been a bit of an overreaction. It hadn’t even been an outrageous request- she  _ was _ their  _ queen _ . She was the eldest. It was her  _ right _ .

Yet he still threw it, that same look of fury etched on his face. He seemed confident in Mjolnir’s ability to best her- ha! She’d been wielding this hammer since she was  _ five _ and Odin had told her that she was to be his greatest weapon. 

She caught it easily (suppressing a wince at the sharp pain in her shoulder- she really should have kept in shape while in her prison, but after the first couple hundred years it had really just seemed  _ pointless _ ), smirking a bit at the look of dumbfounded surprise on the men’s faces. 

“That’s not possible,” Thor muttered, still trying fruitlessly to call Mjolnir back to his hand.

“Darling,” she chuckled, “you have no idea what’s possible.”

With a quick flex of muscles, the hammer shattered.

The two were blown back (she nearly laughed at the devastated look on Thor’s face), and she ran her hand over hair that was in desperate need of a brush, covering it in her favored helmet, summoning a blade for her other hand. The small one panics, and looks to the sky, screaming, “Bring us back!”

_ Perfect _ . Thor’s protests were too late, and the Bifrost came down in a burst of brilliant light ( _ ow, _ some long repressed part of her thought,  _ that’s bright _ ) to catch the two up. Smirking, she flung herself into it.

Once they realized she’d followed them, and was quickly catching up (though not as quickly as she’d have liked- it had been quite a while since she’d ridden the Bifrost), the small one summoned two small daggers, a trick likely learned from Frigga, and threw them down at her. 

_ Pathetic _ . The daggers do nothing to her, and she speeds up, slamming the small one out of the Bifrost (she’d planned on getting Thor first, but he had been bothering her, and she’d get both eventually anyway). “Loki!” he screamed (ah, so  _ that’s _ his name) as she pulled herself up towards him. He didn’t get the chance to worry long over the loss of his brother (he’d be fine, anyway, it’s not as if falling from the Bifrost was overly dangerous), drawing his legs up to kick her away from him. She batted them aside easily, distracting herself long enough to miss the fist flying towards her face until it was too late.

She let go, briefly (she blamed the many years she’d spent in Hel, she really should have kept in shape), and it was long enough- as she fell slightly behind him, he pulled back his foot and delivered a swift kick to her stomach.

Oh,  _ shit _ \- 

She  _ wobbled _ . She lost her balance. Fell out of the Bifrost, crashing down into space after her brother.  _ Weak. _

She’d never actually fallen through space before, she realized. It wasn’t often that she had a new experience.  _ Fun. _

Then she realized that she had no idea where she was  _ going _ . Again, it wasn’t as if she’d ever fallen out of the Bifrost before- she didn’t  _ think _ it was deadly (not that she could die anyway), but- where in the Nine Realms could she possibly be going? (Would she even be in the Nine Realms?)

She soon got her answer- kind of. Falling through a wormhole wasn’t exactly informative as to where, exactly, she  _ was _ , but it was better than an endless expanse of space. 

And then she landed in a trash heap.

_ Oh, for fuck’s sake. _


	2. Chapter 2: Sakaar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is,,, considerably longer. enjoy!

_ Ow _ . 

Hela wished her first thought hadn’t been quite so weak. She’d fallen from much greater heights before, in much worse places, this shouldn’t hurt in the slightest- or at least, she shouldn’t be complaining about it, what would Odin think? ( _ Odin is dead _ , said the small voice in the back of her head that was becoming far too brave for her liking.  _ Shut up _ , she told it.)

All of this was pushed out of her mind almost immediately when, upon looking up, she discovered a large piece of trash falling towards her. 

Once she’d rolled to the side to avoid it (and got herself covered in even more trash, how wonderful), she picked herself to her feet and assessed her surroundings.

Well. Trash… trash… more trash… was there anything  _ useful _ on this stupid planet? Aside from the curious wormholes in the sky, and the scrappers dotted around the landscape, it was unimpressive. 

“Are you a fighter? Or are you food?”

She whirled around to see a group of-  _ somethings _ coming towards her. They seemed disgusting little creatures. She scoffed and turned away.

“It is food!” The leader declared. “On your knees-”

He never finished his sentence, the pike in his chest being too much of an impediment. The other creatures didn’t seem too worried, a sure sign of low intelligence. 

They would be fun to kill.

And fun they were- she stood satisfied (and a little tired, though she’d never admit it) over their bodies not 2 minutes later. Well, they weren’t  _ fun _ , not really, pathetically easy was a better term, but she hadn’t killed  _ anyone _ in so long that she would take what she could get. 

She wandered over to the nearest body in search of money (as much as she could just waltz into a store and murder everyone and then take what she wanted, the more sensible side of her decided that maybe large scale murder wasn’t the best solution to  _ every _ problem), knowing she would have to buy food eventually, and Odin hadn’t exactly given her an allowance when she was in Hel. She was in the middle of trying to find where this thing kept its damn money anyway when she felt something sharp latch onto the side of her neck.

_ What- _

Her thoughts were cut off by a searing pain in her neck, and her body convulsed before falling to the ground.  _ Oh, Norns, that hurt _ . 

She squinted up at the approaching figure.  _ When they get closer, I’ll grab them _ . Unfortunately, the figure- she thought it might be a woman- paused out of range, and much as Hela might have wanted to reach out and grab her leg, everything still hurt far too much ( _ real warriors do not feel pain, daughter _ ) and she didn’t know what might happen if she tried to move again.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

Did she know that voice? She thought she might know that voice. It sounded familiar, deep in the recesses of her brain,  _ somewhere _ she must have heard that before-

_ Zzap _ .  _ Ow. _

“What-”

“What should we do with you, do you think?” The figure was in range now, she could reach her, she knew she-  _ no _ . This woman had control of whatever was sending currents of pain dancing through her body, it would be a very bad idea to try to grab at her leg, even she knew that (Hela was, while a little quick-tempered and impulsive, not an idiot). 

“Where am I?”

“Oh, shut up.”

Hela had no time, or the strength, to block the boot before it hit her face. The last thing she saw before slipping away was the woman grabbing her by the legs and dragging her across the ground.

\----------------------

Scrapper 142 had been having a wonderful day before the Asgardian fell through the sky.

Well, perhaps “wonderful” was a strong word- one didn’t have many wonderful days on Sakaar. But she’d gotten out of bed and realized she had a wonderful bottle of ale sitting somewhere in her home, and had started off the day with a buzz singing under her veins. The Grandmaster had let her pretty much do whatever the hell she wanted, too, so after a visit to her favorite bar to get  _ more _ alcohol in her system, she’d gotten in her ship and flown out to the trash heaps- maybe she could find something  _ interesting _ , and if not, she could always just kick some of the other scrapper’s asses.

And, oh, she certainly found something interesting. 

She’d been drawn to the noise of the fight like a moth to a light. She almost made a grand entrance with her ship, but then the noises stopped. Usually this might mean that the scrappers had killed off whoever it was, but they were normally so much  _ louder _ than this. So whoever fought them must have- what, won? 

If so, she had a contender. She wondered how much she could ask for this one.

She dug an obedience disk from her pocket and made her way around one of the trash piles. She couldn’t see whoever it was (probably a woman, but one could never be sure), they were kneeling over one of the scrapper’s bodies, looking for pockets. Smart.

Too bad she wouldn’t be getting any further with that.

With a practiced flick of her wrist, the disk latched onto the woman’s neck. She allowed her a brief moment of confusion (she was merciful that way) before activating the electricity. The woman convulsed and fell to the ground.

She wondered briefly if it was cheating to knock people out with electricity before attempting to capture them, then brushed the thought aside. Of course it was cheating- cheating that would get her paid. 

She stopped short when she saw the woman on the ground. She was still slightly conscious- a feat in and of itself- but that wasn’t what made her stop in shock.

Is that-

No. It couldn’t be. Hela Odinsdottir was trapped in a prison, at least until Odin- wait. Could he- she had no idea how long it had been since she’d come to Sakaar. Still, she hadn’t thought it had been  _ quite _ so long as to see Odin’s death. 

Yet, here was the evidence. Looking up at her with a dazed expression on an almost worryingly gaunt face (well of course she’s thin, dumbass, she’s been living in Hel, she reminded herself) was the Goddess of Death herself.

She had the Goddess of Death under her control. She had control of the obedience disk that she’d  _ embedded in her neck _ . Thoughts of revenge flew through her mind, and she smirked. “Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

She thought she saw a flicker of recognition on Hela’s face at her voice. That wouldn’t do- as much as she wanted to take well earned revenge, she didn’t want  _ that _ much of a confrontation. Too close to home. The best thing she could do was bring her to the Grandmaster- yes, that would be perfect. She could demand so much money she may never have to work again, she’d get to watch Hela be subjugated (not that that was something she normally  _ enjoyed _ seeing, but this was a special occasion), and she might even get to see her get beaten up, if she went against the Hulk. Sure, she could beat him in other circumstances, but the Grandmaster wouldn’t let his beloved champion lose.

She zapped Hela again, and she jerked on the ground. “What-” she muttered, sounding dazed.

“What should we do with you, do you think?” She was smirking now- and probably enjoying this far too much. Hela, somehow, was able to muster up some semblance of fury, and looked like she might reach out and grab her leg as she walked closer, but held back, showing that she at least had some self restraint. She’d wondered, sometimes.

Instead, she groaned out, “Where am I?”

Scrapper 142 scoffed. “Oh, shut up.”

She took perhaps too much satisfaction in the way that her boot connected with her face.

\----------------------

“Fear not, for you are found.”

_ What the fuck. _

“You are home, and there is no going back. No one leaves this place.”

Not if she could help it. Hela started coming back to her senses, looking around at the strange scene in front of her.  _ What was happening? _

“But what is this place? The answer is- Sakaar!”

Huh? Hela had never heard of this place. It must not be overly important- it was, after all, covered in trash. It was a stupid name, anyway.

“Surrounded by cosmic gateways, Sakaar lives on the edge of the known and unknown.”

Cosmic gateways. Now  _ that _ was interesting. No wonder so many strange creatures and things were here. Maybe she should take over this planet. Clean it up a bit.

“It is the collection point for all lost and unloved things. Like you.”

_ Excuse me _ ? Hela’s fists tightened underneath her restraints. What was this- strange hologram to say that she was  _ unloved? _ ( _ No one could ever love you, daughter _ ) She should kill it.  _ Can you kill a computer…? _

“But here on Sakaar, you are significant. You are valuable. Here, you are loved.”

She was going to punch something. The first thing she could find when she got out of this stupid chair, preferably someone’s face. Was this speech supposed to be calming? It wasn’t working- she was feeling more and more murderous by the second.

“And no one loves you more than the Grandmaster.”

Who the hell was that? He looked easy enough to kill. If he ruled over this planet, it shouldn’t be too hard to take over. A nice warm up before getting back to Asgard.

“He is the original. The first lost, and the first found. The creator of Sakaar and the father of the Contest of Champions.”

Contest? Bah. She could win that easily.  _ Focus, Hela, we’re not here to win a contest _ , she chided herself.

“Where once you were nothing, now you are something. You are the property of the Grandmaster.” 

She was no such thing! Who did this Grandmaster think he was?! She was Hela Odinsdottir, heir to the throne of Asgard, Goddess of Death, and this- this  _ showman _ thought he was going to take control of  _ her _ ?! Once she got out of this chair, she was going to show that son of a-

“Congratulations! You will meet the Grandmaster in 5 seconds.”

Oh, goody. She would get to murder someone in 5 seconds. She couldn’t wait.

“Prepare yourself. Prepare yourself. You are now meeting the Grandmaster!”

A series of bewildering images flashed by her eyes, and as she felt herself rush forward, she suppressed the urge to scream….

And the image fell away to reveal a group of people standing and staring at her.

“Let me go! Let me go, you imbeciles, you cretins, do you know who I  _ am _ ? I will  _ kill all of you- _ ”

She cut off, mostly in astonishment, as the strangely dressed man in front of her began  _ laughing _ . She gaped at him as he chuckled and clapped his hands together. “Oh, this is a fun one. You always get me the best toys, 142, just wonderful. Cretins, is that what she- this is a she, right?”

“Yes,” the woman named ‘142’ smirked. “It is a she.”

“Yes, I thought so. Quite a feisty one we have here, she’ll be fun, I’m sure. You truly are the best, 142, just the best. She brought me my beloved champion, you know.”

“You say that every time she’s here,” scowled another woman, glaring at 142 with contempt. 

“So what have you brought today?”

“A contender.”

“What are you talking about? Who do you think you are?”

“Real mouthy, I like that. Take me closer, I need to take a look. There we go- thanks.”

Hela put as much fury behind her glare as possible as the Grandmaster came closer to her, and then was distracted by 142  _ sniggering _ behind him. The  _ nerve _ of her!

… though, on closer inspection-  _ did she know her? _ She could have sworn that she knew her. It shouldn’t be too hard to remember. She hadn’t exactly had much of a chance to socialize in Hel, so she must have known her at least a little for her to be able to recognize her after all these years.  _ But who… _

“Pay this lady.” The Grandmaster interrupted her thoughts, and she snapped her head back towards him.

“Hey! I am not for sale, you pathetic creature, let me go this  _ instant _ -”

Summoning all of her strength, she pulled up on her restraints, and tore them free. She grinned triumphantly for a brief moment before 142 held up a strange device and-

_ Owwwww. _

“What in the Norns-”

“I’ll take 20 million.”

The other woman scoffed. “Tell her she’s dreaming.”

“Oh, transfer the units.”

Hela struggled back into a dignified sitting position. “Hey! Let me go! You!” To her surprise, 142 paused on her way out when she screamed at her. “Who are you? Do I know you? Why are you doing this?  _ Answer me! _ ”

142 turned around slowly, looking her up and down. She smirked, and held up the device.

“What are you-”

_ Ow. _

Damn her.

“Well, this is certainly exciting,” the Grandmaster grinned, and he got up, dragging her chair with him- the restraints snuck back around her wrists. She did not bother ripping free again.

“Here’s what I wanna know,” he said conversationally, as if he hadn’t just  _ bought her _ like a common mule, “Who are you?”

“I am the Goddess of Death, you ignorant peon, and I shall raze this city to the ground-”

“Aw, cute. Death. So, what, can you see ghosts? You might as well be a ghost, you aren’t looking too good, must not go out much, huh?”

She scowled as the second woman came up to the Grandmaster again. She told him she was the Goddess of Death, and he  _ laughed. _ He called her  _ cute. _ She was going to  _ murder him _ . ( _ If he’s that flippant, he could be very powerful _ , her sensible side warned her.  _ I’m still going to murder him _ , she argued back.)

She felt her chair moving, sidling up next to another chair with a sniveling man in it. He was crying-  _ only weak people cry, and you aren’t weak, are you? _ \- and whimpering as the Grandmaster talked. “Please, I’m sorry,” he wailed. 

“Carlo, I pardon you,” the Grandmaster smiled. Oh, please. 

“Thank you,” Carlo sobbed. “Thank you.”

“You are officially pardoned- from life.” Yes, that was more like it. He didn’t seem like the type of person to just pardon people who had done something wrong. She hoped she would get to see him die. Maybe she could be his executioner.

He grabbed the woman’s staff, and jabbed it into the man’s midsection, causing him to melt into a puddle.

_ Oh, Norns. _ Hela was a violent soul by nature, but that was- why would he  _ melt _ him? It made such a horrible mess. In Asgard, she would just cut people’s heads off, they never  _ melted _ anyone, that was- well, they probably would have if they had the ability, but it was still barbaric. When she took over this planet, she would go back to good old fashioned beheadings.

The-  _ ooze _ seeped out on the floor. “Oh, ew, look, I’m stepping in it. I’m stepping in it!”

Hela wrinkled her nose, and he looked at her. “Does it smell? What does it smell like?”

The woman behind him smirked. “Burnt toast.”

The Grandmaster chuckled, then turned to her. “Where are my manners? I never properly introduced myself. Come on, follow me.”

As if he gave her much of a choice. The chair moved into a new room. “My name is Grandmaster. I preside over a little harlequinade called the Contest of Champions. People come from all over to unwillingly participate in it. And you, my friend, might just be part of the new cast. What do you say to that?”

“Release me at once! I must return to Asgard and claim my rightful place on the throne-”

“Ass-guard?” She flushed. He just laughed at her and moved away.

She struggled for a bit with her restraints. She felt- weak. Sluggish. A little dizzy, now that the adrenaline was wearing off. She must be very, very far away from Asgard, even further than she had been in Hel. Everything was too bright, colors she hadn’t seen in thousands of years assaulting her senses in droves, and it was giving her a headache. It wasn’t overly loud in the room, but it still made her ears hurt- the only sound she’d heard until recently was that of her own voice (she’d made a habit out of talking to herself some 200 years after she tried escaping her prison). 

After giving up (she wouldn’t get far anyway, not with this stupid thing in her neck), she shut her eyes tight, shook her head, and opened them again. No better. She wondered if anyone would give her something to eat- she hadn’t needed to in Hel (though she still felt the hunger sharply), and now that she was out, she would need to get something in her system. Asgardians could not heal nearly as fast when they were low on food, especially so far away from their home. 

She happened to turn her head to the side when her eye caught something familiar. Her brother. Her brother was  _ here _ . Sitting there,  _ without a chair or restraints _ , happy as could be, telling a story and surrounded by people. Not Thor, the small- what was his name again? Oh, Norns, she should- Loki! It was Loki.

“Loki! Loki!”

She knew she sounded desperate, but, at this point, she was. She had no way of getting off of this planet or even out of this chair, her head hurt, she needed food, and she needed to get to Asgard  _ now. _

He gaped at her, then let out a laugh.  _ Oh, honestly-  _ what was it with people and the  _ laughing _ recently? Couldn’t they see that she was going to  _ kill them all- _

“Oh, sister, that’s quite the predicament you’re in,” he smiled, sidling up to her. “Thor managed to kick you out of the Bifrost, then?”

“Oh, shut up. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you in a chair?”

“I don’t have a chair.”

“Why not? Answer me, you useless little-”

“I gained favor with the Grandmaster. I’m guessing you just screamed at him to let you go? Called him a few names? No wonder Odin locked you up, you’re horrid at diplomacy.”

“I’m going to  _ kill you- _ ”

“Ah, yes, death threats. How are you going to kill me, sister? You’re stuck in a chair.”

She growled at him.

“Well, hello, you two. Loki, you know my new competitor?”

Loki smirked. “Never met her in my life.”

“That is not- Loki! I’m his sister!”

“Technically I’m adopted.”

Oh. She hadn’t known that.

“And we only met a few weeks ago. I didn’t even know I had a sister. No connection at all.”

“Ah. Do you know if she’s a good fighter?”

“I’m the best,” Hela snarled. Loki smirked at her,  _ again, _ and shrugged at the Grandmaster.

“I could kill you if you didn’t have this in my neck-”

“Ooh, look at that, she’s threatening me. Tell you what, you defeat my beloved champion, and I’ll let you go back to this Ass place. Ass-berg?”

“Asgard.”

“Whatever. Whoever defeats my champion their freedom they shall win.”

“Then I’ll defeat him. When do we fight?”

“Slow down there, feisty pants. So eager, so eager- you have to promise me you won’t kill any of the other prisoners, alright? You seem like you would, all the death threats- do you think she would, Loki?”

“Oh, definitely.”

“Shut up.”

“Alright, well, let’s get you to it. Come on.”

A group of guards came to get her, and she jerked once more at the restraints before they led her away.

\------------------------

“ _ LET ME OUT!” _ Her shrieking did nothing- nor did throwing herself at the wall. She kicked it for good measure, and slumped down to the floor (exhaustion was starting to hang off of her like a heavy cloak). 

“No point to that. Door’s impenetrable.” She looked up, finding a- rock? 

“What in the Nine Realms are you supposed to be?”

“I’m a Kronan. Ended up here after I tried to start a revolution, and failed. My name’s Korg, by the way.”

“I don’t care. What can you tell me about this champion?”

“Are you facing him?”

“Yes. And then I’m going to get out of this cell, take over this stupid planet, and leave.”

His face brightened. “Would you like to join my revolution?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “You just said your last one failed.”

“Well, yeah. But this time I’m gonna print enough pamphlets.”

Idiots. She was surrounded by idiots. She groaned and rested her head back on the wall.

“Anyway, you seem like you’d be a good addition! You should join us.”

“I’m good.”

“Alright then. I suppose it doesn’t matter if you’re facing the champion anyway.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, no one’s fought the champion and survived. Like Doug over there. He always used to talk about getting out of here one day. Poor Doug.”

She scoffed. “Well, clearly this  _ champion _ has never faced anyone as powerful as me before. I shall defeat him and leave this wretched planet.”

“That’s what Doug always said. See you later, New Doug!”

_ Ugh. _

She found herself wishing she had her cape- would’ve been more comfortable, something to cover up (her armor was still in tatters). She wondered, with more urgency than before, whether she would be getting food anytime soon. Her headache was mounting (though her eyes hurt much less with the dim lighting and gray walls of her cell), her back was starting to hurt from falling onto a trash heap, and her entire body ached from the numerous shocks. She tried to pull the disk off of her neck- this did nothing but shock her again.

Damn.

She sat in boredom for a while, kicking a bit at one of the stones that had fallen off of- Kurg? No, Korg. She got up and wandered around, only to discover that the cell was one long, ah, “freaky circle” with no apparent sense to it. She would, it seemed, simply have to sit still and wait until they brought her out to fight the champion.

\------------------------------------

Hela was horrible at waiting.

Waiting was before a battle, her father barking orders to his troops and telling her to not disappoint him, the only order she had ever needed. Waiting was sitting in the healing wards and waiting for a healer when she was  _ perfectly fine anyway _ , a stab wound was nothing compared to her normal injuries and it was healing on its own just fine. Waiting was the horrible feeling from her youth when she still wasn’t quite used to her new role of executioner, standing by her father’s side to see whether or not she would have to kill someone that day and whether or not she would be able to do it.

And the Grandmaster kept her waiting for  _ hours. _

When they were finally brought to a different room with racks of weapons, Hela relaxed.  _ This _ she could handle. She immediately made her way over to the knives. The stupid pile of rocks followed.

“Ready to go up against the champion?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what Doug said.”

She was growing sick and tired of hearing about Doug. He seemed like he had been an overly optimistic and ultimately weak being. She  _ despised _ those. Weakness could never be tolerated, and optimism got you nowhere in life.

“Anyway, what kind of weapons do you like? What about this big wooden fork?”

She eyed it warily. It was similar to her usual preferences, but it seemed a pretty pointless weapon. “No.”

“Yeah, not really useful. Unless you were fighting off three vampires that were huddled together.”

Completely against her will, Hela’s lips quirked up into a slight smile before she forced them back down. The useless sack of rocks was a  _ lesser _ being to  _ her _ , she should not be  _ laughing _ at anything he said. 

“Oh! I don’t think I ever introduced you to Meek-”

“I don’t care.”

“Oh. Ok then. Hey, what about this set of knives?”

“I’ve got my own knives.”

“You’ve got your own weapons on you? If I were you, I’d have used them by now.”

“Yes, well, I wouldn’t get far with this stupid thing in my neck and- hey!”

Her gaze had caught the cause of her situation- Scrapper 142. She was arguing with some bartender over a drink, likely using the money she’d gotten that day when she’d  _ sold her _ . “Who’s she?” she asked. She knew who the woman was, of course, but- there had to be something  _ more. _ She  _ knew her. _

Maybe she invaded her planet, once upon a time.

“Oh, her? Yeah, Scrapper 142. She’s strong. Drinks a lot.”

“She’s the one who put me in here.”

“I’m not surprised. Gotta look out for those Asgardians, man.”

_ Asgardian? _

She blinked at Kurg, brain taking a moment to process the information, before rushing up to the bars. “Hey!”

142 slowly turned around, and, upon seeing who she was, smirked and held up the stupid zappy thing. “Don’t you dare shock me with that again. I know you’re Asgardian, you  _ know me _ , let me go this instant!”

Her eyes narrowed, and she took a swig of her drink. “Apologies,  _ Your Majesty _ , but I’m afraid I won’t be doing you that favor. Or any, really. You don’t know who  _ I _ am, do you?”

“Should I?” Hela drawled, trying to hide that she really  _ did not _ know who this woman was, and it was  _ aggravating. _

“I wouldn’t expect you to,” 142 growled. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a show to watch.”

Kirg came up behind her and clapped a hand down on her shoulder. Her knees nearly buckled, though whether that was from the sheer weight or the lingering exhaustion in her muscles or both was unknown to her. “Yeah, she’s a strange one. Mean, too. I’ve never talked to her but I’ve heard-”

“Shut up.”

“Hey! You’re up, come on.”

“Good luck, New Doug!”

Still scowling, she let herself be led towards the arena.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter will be up in a few days. make sure to review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hela fights, and has a surprisingly insightful conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own any of these characters or places etc.
> 
> Enjoy!

“...Ladies and Gentlemen, I give to you… Lady Death!”

_ Of course, _ she thought.  _ Of course he gets my name wrong. _

She sighed, and jammed the rusty old helmet that had been provided onto her head. The armor felt strange on her (she was much slighter than the other gladiators), but she wasn’t entirely sure if she  _ could _ summon up her weapons and armor at the moment. Much as she was loath to admit it, she wasn’t at her best, and the fact that the volume in the arena was near deafening wasn’t helping. The Grandmaster was saying something, she couldn’t tell what, but the crowd was going wild and shooting off clouds of green into the air. 

The Grandmaster must have been finishing up his introduction of the infamous champion, because the door on the other side of the arena started grinding open. She hefted the sword in her hand. 

A big green…  _ thing _ burst out of the door, roaring and brandishing an axe and hammer in each hand.  _ Oh, please. I could beat this thing in my sleep. _

It charged her, and she jumped up, kicking off of his shoulder and slashing a blade down his back on her way down. It roared and turned around to face her, raising up the hammer and bringing it down to where she was standing. She dodged it easily.  _ How have people lost against this ‘champion’? _

She moved in and jabbed at its leg. The skin was thicker than she thought it would be, and the blade glanced off, distracting her momentarily. It tried to swipe at her with the axe, and she jumped over it, sending one of her blades (oh, goody, she could summon them. She hadn’t been sure) to pin the weapon to the floor (the beast itself may have been near indestructible, but his weapons certainly weren’t).

This only made it angrier. Well. Good for her, she was angry too.

She drew up a much thicker, blunter blade (her sharpest would only barely get through the skin anyway) and ran up, smashing it into its throat. That should be enough to break most of the bones in there. She’d know- Odin had made her memorize the best ways to injure any body when she was  _ five _ , she knew everything there was to know.

She fell to the ground, taking a moment to catch her breath. The beast stumbled back and- caught itself. Instead of falling to the ground like she thought it would, it straightened up and roared once more, looking, if anything, even angrier.

There was no time to block herself before its hand drew back with inhuman speed and batted her back into the wall of the arena. The crowd roared.

_ Ow…. _

Groaning, she picked herself up, looking to where the beast was roaring and pounding its chest, turning to the audience, clearly thinking her beaten.

She proved it wrong by knocking its remaining weapon out of its hand and bashing it over the head with the hilt of her knife. 

Again, instead of stumbling like any other opponent would, it just grabbed her legs and flung her towards the wall again. She hit it with so much force that she knew the wall caved in a bit, and she felt several of her ribs crack.

She stumbled back to her feet, and the beast began looking annoyed, and stamped its feet on the ground, looking like it was about to charge her.

Oh, dear. She knew the beast was just about as smart as it looked, and would probably just charge blindly at her- she should be able to leap out of the way and get another hit in. 

This worked. Almost.

She managed to jump up and over its shoulder, but it caught her legs again and flung her into another wall. 

Yes, she definitely had more than a few broken ribs.

She got up, before being hit with a wave of pain and collapsing back down to the floor. Her head was spinning now, the crowd above her blurring into one huge mess of color and noise. Her ribcage felt like it was splitting apart, and she doubted she could pull out another one of her weapons if she wanted to. Pain lanced through her back from smashing into the wall (she pushed aside the anxious feeling that came with that pain, pushed aside Odin’s voice in her head and the sharp cracking sound in her head,  _ now was not the time for that).  _ If she were on Asgard, a few measly broken ribs would be fixed in no time, and she would have more than enough energy to get through and win this fight, but here in this horrible trash planet with no sustenance and no way to heal herself, this was a battle that- maybe- she wouldn’t be able to win.

“She put up a good fight, folks, but she seems to be giving up now against our beloved champion- go finish up the job, Hulk!”

The crowd started cheering and chanting and generally not helping with the pounding in her head. Groaning, she picked her head up from where it was resting on the ground. The beast (Hulk, was it called?) roared one more time and took a great leap into the air.  _ What is he-  _

Her eyes widened as he began descending towards where she was laying on the ground.

_ Oh, shi- _

\--------------------

Yes, Scrapper 142 decided, this truly was a good day.

She’d been a bit thrown off by the appearance of Hela, but it was turning out for the best. For one, she had control of her obedience disk, and had had a great time zapping her every time she annoyed her (which was often). It also turned out that Hela  _ didn’t even recognize her _ , saving her the uncomfortable prospect of facing the past in a confrontation (though she was having fun hanging the truth over her head, since Hela did seem to have the notion that she  _ should _ know her but had no idea how). 

And she got to see her get her ass handed to her.

She wasn’t sure, at first, if the Hulk would beat Hela- she was a formidable warrior, she had to admit. She’d been asked to bring the fob with her so, if needed, she could trigger the disk in Hela’s neck to make sure she lost the fight. But, it turned out, this was unnecessary.

Hela was  _ weak. _ Well, no, that wasn’t the right word. She was considerably weakened, though- even before the fight started, she was swaying a bit and having trouble with the noise of the crowd. The thought crossed her mind that it was, perhaps, a little unfair, seeing as Hela had been trapped in a practically soundless and sightless realm for millenia, but she brushed it off. It was  _ Hela _ . If anyone deserved to be given a disadvantage, it was her.

She had held her own at the beginning, she’d give her that, but she was arrogant. She didn’t take into account the fact that the Hulk couldn’t be injured and would only become angrier every time she cut him (to be fair, no one had told her this- but that was part of the sport). And it had been so, so wonderful to see Hela tossed across the arena like a rag doll not one, but  _ three _ different times. Stubborn woman didn’t know when to give up.

All the better for her.

It was unfortunate that the Grandmaster was going to keep her alive- and let her room with his Champion. It meant she would have to see her more. But it also meant she would get to see her get her ass kicked more.

She took a swig of her drink. As far as deals went, this really wasn’t a bad one.

\--------------------

Hela was really starting to get tired of waking up in pain. She came to in a strange room- not the cell, thank goodness- with the feeling of something prodding at her ribs. She looked down to find two women near her abdomen looking at-  _ where was her shirt?! _

She jerked suddenly, startling both of the women and causing them to leap up and run. She tried to sit up, wincing at the pain lancing through her ribs, and immediately sat back down. They had left her with some semblance of coverage, and her pants were still on, but otherwise she was bare except for a couple of patches and bits of gauze littering her abdomen. (Had they seen- it didn’t matter.) When she tried running her hand through her hair, it stuck in the knots. She couldn’t see herself, but she was sure she looked rather horrid.

Using her arms this time, she pulled herself slowly into a sitting position, and, seeing a shirt nearby, grabbed it and tugged it on. 

She looked around the room. It was a garish combination of red and white, nothing like the elegance of Asgard’s palace but still better than the cell (though the cell hadn’t been so  _ bright _ ). Off to the side of the room, the horrible green beast was lounging in a pool of water.

Despite herself, she moved closer. It was a formidable creature, she had to admit, it had beaten  _ her _ , after all (though he never would have had she been on Asgard). “What are you?”

The creature looked up. “Hulk.”

She raised an eyebrow. “No, what species are you?”

“Hulk is hulk.”

“Oh, for- you know what? It doesn’t matter. What made you so good at fighting?” Flattery, she found, was always a good way to get answers out of someone.

“Strong. Can’t hurt. Hulk gets angry when hurt.”

Well. Close enough. Obviously she couldn’t expect much out of this ‘Hulk’.

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Hulk smash.”

“No. I mean what are your ambitions? What do you want to do in life?”

“Hulk smash.”

“Surely there must be  _ something _ else you want.”

“Smash.”

This is what she had to work with? Ugh. She missed Fenris.

Time for a different tactic.

“You know, I like smashing too. Stabbing, mostly, but smashing is… fun. I’m very good at it.”

“No. Death Lady not good at smashing.”

“My name is Hela. And I’m a god, I’m good at everything.”

Hulk snorted, and she thought something like recognition flickered in his eyes. “Puny god.”

“I am not  _ puny-” _

“Hulk smash puny god.”

“No. Absolutely not, there will be no smashing of the puny god.”

“Other puny god. Thor brother.”

“Wha- you know Thor?” She blinked at him, startled. “And Loki?”

“Yes. Hulk smash puny god. Thor try. But Hulk do better.”

Hmm. So Loki was the puny god (she wasn’t surprised). And Thor was… a friend? A teammate?

“Do you want to, ah, smash the puny god again? He’s here, did you know that.”

“Puny god friends with Grandmaster. Hulk can’t smash.”

“Why do you listen to him?”

“Lets Hulk smash.”

Wow. He really was completely centered around smashing. She appreciated that level of dedication.

“Thor and Loki are my brothers,” she said carefully. She had no idea how he would react to that- he seemed on friendly enough terms with Thor but what if she was wrong?

“Thor good. Thor like Hulk. More than others.”

Oh, there are  _ others, _ are there? “Others?”

“Others. Stark. Tasha. Arrow man. Captain.”

“And they don’t like you?”

Hulk shook his head, crossing his arms and looking a bit like a toddler. “Like puny Banner instead. But Hulk better fighter. Banner just sits. Heals. Useless.”

She found herself nodding. “Yes, fighters are much better than healers. Fighters contribute the most, if you’re not a fighter, you’re not useful to anyone.” ( _ If you’re not a fighter, daughter, you’re not useful to  _ me _.) _

But to her surprise, Hulk shook his head again, seeming to realize something (she hadn’t thought he could do that). “No. Banner sometimes useful. Hulk can’t help team like Banner can. Banner help when Stark break his ribs. Or Tasha gets shot. But Hulk protect. No one appreciates Hulk like they appreciate Banner. So Hulk run.”

“No one appreciates fighters like they should,” she muttered, glowering at a random spot on the wall. “My father banished me because I- ah, smashed, too much. He didn’t like it. Even though he told me I should f- smash, my whole life.”

Hulk leaned back into the tub, sinking lower and blowing a bubble on the surface. “Some smash not good. Some smash hurt. Sometimes hurt good, sometimes hurt bad. Hulk did a bad smash, team got mad. Banner mad. But not Hulk’s fault. Scary red lady made him.”

She frowned, her brows pulling down to create a line in her forehead. “No- what are you talking about? All sma- fighting, all fighting is good, there’s no such thing as  _ bad _ fighting.”

“No. Bad. Hurt people. Hulk got too mad. Too much smash. Hard to fix. Banner couldn’t fix.”

A deep feeling of unease was settling in her stomach. She tried to brush it off, but it only grew in intensity. What- what was he  _ talking _ about? What did he- what did that  _ mean _ , too much smashing? There was no such- this was stupid. Hulk was, while strong, not the smartest being in the universe. He must be mistaken. ( _ You have taken this too far, daughter. You must stop all the fighting. _ Norns, would Odin ever leave her alone?)

And besides, he’d said it wasn’t his fault. Why should they be mad? Why should they punish  _ him? _ (Why was she trying to defend him?) He’d said it was some- scary red lady. She thought. She had no idea what that meant, but if Hulk found someone scary, she must be an even more formidable force. She wondered if she would want to join her army.

Hulk suddenly splashed at the water. “What was that for?”

“Team hate Hulk.”

“Yes, you’ve said that.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Team always want Banner back when they done with Hulk.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, “but who, exactly, is this ‘Banner’?” He sounded extremely overrated.

“Banner gone now, only Hulk!”

Well. She clearly wouldn’t be getting a comprehensive answer about that.

“Hm. Say, where is this team of yours from?”

“Earth.”

She frowned, shocked. Earth?  _ Midgard? _ Hulk had come from  _ Midgard? _ Things must have changed since she went there last.

“What would you think, if we went to Earth and took over the planet together? You could get revenge on your  _ team _ .”

He shook his head. “Hulk doesn’t want revenge. Too much bad hurts. But Hulk don’t want to hurt. So Hulk stay on Sakaar.”

That funny feeling in her stomach was back, even stronger this time. Why would he not want to hurt the people who hurt him? Why wouldn’t he want to see them suffer? See them _hurt?_ _Because sometimes it’s better to let bygones be bygones. Sometimes you don’t have to take out your anger on people who don’t deserve it._

She frowned. She couldn’t remember her father ever saying  _ that. _ Even when he was all  _ peaceful _ and all, he would never just-  _ not hurt people _ who had hurt him. To  _ not _ hold a grudge or get angry. So where- where had that come from? ( _ That’s your conscience speaking _ , said a little thought that snuck in from the back of her head.  _ Warriors don’t have consciences, _ she reminded it.  _ Maybe they should _ .)

She set her face into a scowl, and dropped down next to the tub. She would have to think about this.

\---------------------

_ Something is wrong. _

Scrapper 142 didn’t know what it  _ was _ that was wrong, but she knew  _ something _ was. When she went to meet Hulk in the usual place, he didn’t show up. Usually he was there, grinning and decked out in armor. She frowned, remembering that Hela was also in the room.  _ Oh, god _ , she thought,  _ maybe they killed each other. _

Curious and more than a little nervous, she made her way into the room. 

Hulk was still sitting in his jacuzzi (being the Grandmaster’s favored champion had its perks), and was talking animatedly- or as animatedly as he could. He wasn’t the  _ best _ storyteller, but he had more than enough enthusiasm to make up for it.

And Hela was sitting to the side, boots by her side and feet dipped in the water, listening. Her head was resting on her hand, and she almost looked relaxed if one didn’t know her. But, though she wasn’t flying into a murderous rage, she had a concentrated look on her face, as if she were… trying to puzzle something out. Working out a problem in her brain. Val- Scrapper 142 hadn’t seen that face on her often, before. Or- or ever. When she planned a battle, she was walking around, pacing, yelling orders- here, she was quiet and still.  _ Thinking, introspectively _ , something she had never seen her do before- before. 

“Hey, buddy,” she interrupted.

Hulk looked up at her and grinned, and Hela snapped her gaze to her, expression immediately resuming its indifferent facade. “Angry girl!”

“Having fun, are we?”

“Telling stories. But Hulk train now. Good talking, Death Lady.”

“It’s Hela.”

Hulk didn’t respond. 

“Ready to go, big guy?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, come on.”

As she led Hulk out of the room, she spared one quick glance back at Hela, sitting at the side of the jacuzzi. She had shifted so that her head was propped up on both of her hands, and was staring into the water, deep in thought.

Scrapper 142 shook her head slightly, as if to clear it of thoughts, and left.

\----------------------------

Hela kicked at the water, sending it splashing to the other wall. She’d taken her boots off about half an hour into the talk to dip her feet in- while it couldn’t compare to the hot springs on Asgard, it certainly came close enough. 

And what a talk it had been. She’d started regaling Hulk with tales of her conquests and battles and kills, and he’d listened in earnest, roaring happily at the especially gruesome parts and scowling when she told him of her exile. And then he’d told her about himself. Unprompted, of course, but she couldn’t help but be interested when he started. 

He skipped over the details of where he was from, what exactly he  _ was _ \- she’d asked, and he seemed to understand at least a little what she was asking, but dodged the questions. She didn’t pry. She hadn’t mentioned growing up with Odin, either.

But he talked about his team at great length. How he had been on a ship with Thor and beat him (she’d allowed herself a smile at this part), and how he had then gone to a great city called ‘New York’ to battle Loki’s army. The details of the event were fuzzy in his mind, apparently, but she got the gist- her little brothers, it seemed, were a combination of her reckless fury and drive for conquest. Odin truly did replace her. 

And he talked about Stark. How he’d flown up into the ‘blue hole’ in the sky with ‘big boom’ and had fallen down, leaving Hulk to catch him. He talked about training with ‘Tasha’, and how she could make Banner come out (she was still unclear as to who, exactly, this ‘Banner’ was) with a few soft words. The Captain, who let him smash, Thor, who smashed  _ with _ him, and the one who fought with tiny sticks that went ‘boom’ (she deducted, easily enough, that these were arrows). He talked about their battles, too, of which there were many, and how it was always good fun for him whenever they called him out to fight, but how he was never allowed to stick around after- once the destruction was over, it was bye Hulk, hello Banner. (Was Banner an alternate personality? A replacement? Who  _ was _ he?)

And now she was left to think. She’d never been shifted aside once the battles were over and won, but then again, the fighting was never  _ really _ over for them until Odin had declared it so. And then- and then she had been cast out. They hadn’t  _ needed _ her anymore.

_ He _ hadn’t needed her anymore.

_ Fuck. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, Hela....


	4. Chapter 5

Hours later found her still sitting by the pool, toying with one of her knives (she’d summoned one once she’d gathered up enough energy) and staring at the wall distantly. She’d gotten up, at some point, and grabbed a couple of fruits and bits of food to eat- she’d been starting to legitimately worry about the lack of food and started looking then. She’d managed to wrangle her hair into something at least vaguely resembling neat and forced it up into a bun. Maybe she would sleep later, but probably not. She had better things to do.

Hulk had come back from his training with the Scrapper about an hour ago, grinning from ear to ear and bantering playfully with his friend. He’d given her a lot to think about, when they’d talked earlier- surprising, and probably not on purpose, but the fact remained. And she’d put together some semblance of a plan.

She needed to talk to her brother. The small one. Loki. She needed to know what had happened to Asgard since she’d left it- and possibly ask him what had possessed him to try to conquer Midgard. Sure, it was something she would do ( _needless_ _suffering,_ said the voice that was becoming more and more a part of her with every passing minute), but why Midgard? Why not _this_ stupid trash planet, if that was what he enjoyed? Where had he gotten the army? 

And she was going to have a talk with the Scrapper. At some point. She needed to know who she was- she’d thought about it, briefly, while Hulk had been gone, but it was pointless. She  _ knew _ she was familiar,  _ knew _ she’d fought with her at some point (or against her?), but that was where her memory failed. It wasn’t overly important to her plan, of course, but it was still aggravating her, and she needed to get it out of her mind.

She was going to get out of here and back to Asgard. One of the portals in the sky would work- and she would need a ship for that. That was another reason she needed to talk to the Scrapper or Loki (or both). They were both close with the Grandmaster, they would know which ship to take and how to get it. Loki might be more amenable to her cause. She didn’t think the Scrapper liked her very much.

“Death Lady.” She jolted out of her thoughts and looked up- Hulk was sitting down next to her.

“Hello.”

“Death Lady sad?”

She scowled. “I don’t get sad. I’m just thinking.”

“Hulk get sad. Sad and mad. Sometimes sad makes more mad and bad smash.”

Maybe, she thought, he wasn’t  _ that _ dumb. Not smart, but not dumb either. Some of the things he said could be… enlightening.

“Mm. I’ll keep that in mind.” She sighed, leaning back to lay down on the floor. “Hulk?”

“Yes?”

“I need a favor.”

\-----------------------------

Hulk wouldn’t let her hurt the ‘angry girl’, no matter how much she tried to convince him otherwise. He would, however, get her into the room and therefore force her to listen. That was close enough.

She had no way of getting to Loki, unless she wanted to go fight in the arena again, and her ribs still hurt. So Scrapper it was.

“Hey, Big guy! Ready to go?”

“Big guy?”

He shuffled over to stand in front of the doorframe, leaving her face to face with Hela. Scrapper shot an annoyed look back at Hulk, who seemed to look a little ashamed.

Good to know that he was loyal, even if it was to some Scrapper.

“We need to talk.”

“No we don’t. Hulk, let me go.”

“Death Lady wants to talk.”

“And Angry Girl doesn’t. Move.”

“No! Stay!”

She scowled, then turned to Hela, who forced a smirk onto her face. “Come now. I just want to know who you are. And also borrow one of the Grandmaster’s ships.”

“I’m not letting you get back to Asgard, you wretch.”

“Well, if you don’t, I’ll take it by force. You just have to tell me who you  _ are _ -”

Scrapper whipped around and shoved her, hard, and Hela stumbled back a few steps. “You want to know who I am?” she hissed, grabbing her shirt and pressing her against the glass, holding her there by her neck with her forearm.

Hela scowled, and opened her mouth to admonish her or ask to  _ let her breathe _ , when her eye caught on something. Her eyes widened, and she wheezed, “You’re a Valkyrie?”

The Scrapper dropped her so fast she didn’t have time to catch herself before falling to the floor. “I was. Guess who screwed that up for me?”

Hela scowled. “I thought I killed you all.”

“You thought wrong,” Scra- Valkyrie snapped. 

Hela examined her closer- now that she knew she was a Valkyrie, she was sure she could place… Ingrid? No, that was the other- Brunn something. Brunn… “Brunnhilde!”

“Finally remembered, have you?” she scowled. “And don’t call me that. That name died when my sisters did.”

“Fine. What are you doing  _ here _ ?”

“Drinking.”

“Yes, I can see that. You know, technically, I’m the queen. You’re sworn to listen to me.”

“I’m not sworn to do anything for you,  _ Your Majesty _ . You slaughtered your own people. You slaughtered your own  _ warriors _ . The Valkyrie fought for you for years-”

“And yet they turned against me when I-”

“When you tried to take over Asgard! And then  _ you  _ killed them!”

“Because they tried to stop me from breaking out of that horrid prison! You would have done the same,  _ Brunnhilde _ , don’t act like you wouldn’t kill everyone in this bloody place if you had to!”

She didn’t see the fist coming at her face until it was too late (damn, she needed to work on her reflexes.) By the time she regained her bearings, Brunnhilde was straddling her and driving a fist into her ribs. She grabbed her wrist and flung her into the jacuzzi.

The Valkyrie climbed out, soaking wet and clenching her teeth tight, and held up the fob hanging from her belt. “Don’t you dare-”

She was cut off by the now familiar shock running throughout her body, and crumpled back down to the floor. Brunnhilde stalked back over to her, smirking. “I win.”

“You cheated.”

“You killed my sisters.”

“You caused me to be locked up in Hel for another millenia.”

“That doesn’t make us even.”

“You sold me to a maniac to fight in death matches. If that doesn’t make us even, I don’t know what will.”

“Maybe I should kill your brothers too.”

“Go ahead. I won’t miss them.”

They glared at each other, before Brunnhilde turned on her heel and stalked out of the door. Hulk didn’t stop her.

Time for a new plan.

\-------------------------

Several painful shocks later, she decided that simply ripping the disk out of her neck was not going to work. Plan C.

\----------------------

Ok. Screaming for the guards and knocking them all out and making a run for it didn’t do it, either. She wished Hulk had told her she’d get shocked when she ran out of the door.

At the very least, he could have refrained from laughing.

\-------------------------

The next day, she fought a couple of gladiators in the arena, making easy work of them. Korg waved to her when she passed by and gave her two thumbs up. She took this to be a good thing, and nodded (reluctantly) in his general direction.

Hulk hadn’t fought that day- it wasn’t a main event day- so he was still waiting for her when she got back. They tossed a ball back and forth for longer than she cared to admit, her brain running through plan after plan before discarding them nearly as quickly as they were drawn up. Hulk had just dropped the ball, and was running after it, when she thought of something.

“Hulk?”

“Mm.”

“How did you get here?”

“Quinjet.”

“Ok. What, exactly, is a quinjet?”

“Ship.”

_ Yes _ . Perfect. “Where is it? Is it still here?”

He gave up chasing after the ball, and made his way to the window. She got to her feet and joined him. He pointed out a ship sitting outside. “Quinjet.”

Great. A ship. Now… well, now she needed a way to get to it. And to get this thing out of her neck.

Brunnhilde would not be reasoned with. She’d stopped by earlier to bring Hulk to training- she’d zapped her immediately when she tried to go closer. And, later, while she’d been fighting, she’d seen a glimpse of her up in her ship. She kept up a stream of steady (but thankfully low-powered) shocks going throughout the entire fight.

“How do you stop Bru- Angry Girl from being mad at you.”

“Angry Girl not get mad at Hulk.”

“Mm. But surely she gets mad at other people, if you call her ‘Angry Girl’.”

“She get angry. Not get mad at people. Not hating. Except you.”

Well, wonderful. 

“What did you do?”

She tensed a bit, then relaxed- Hulk’s expression was simple curiosity. She thought about it for a bit, then said, “I killed some people that were important to her. They- made me mad, and I, ah, killed them. I didn’t even know she’d survived.”

Hulk grunted, and plopped down next to her. “Bad smash?”

“Hm. Yes, I suppose it was.” Was it? She- ok, maybe the Valkyrie hadn’t  _ exactly _ deserved to get slaughtered, and it wasn’t exactly a fair fight, but- but she’d been in  _ Hel. _ She’d wanted to get out and they’d been in her way. Though she couldn’t blame them, either. It was Odin’s fault.

Everything seemed to boil down to being Odin’s fault, in the end.

“Throw ball?”

Hulk sat back down across from her, holding up the ball.

She sighed. “Sure, big guy.”

\----------------------

“And another stunning performance by Lady Death, let’s give it up for her! That’s all for today, folks, come back next time for another appearance by our champion….”

She didn’t hear the rest, too busy wrestling the stupid helmet off of her head (she was feeling much stronger now, and the headache only really came back when she was in the arena, but she  _ still couldn’t summon up her armor _ ) and collapsing down to the ground. These fights were always tiring- the Grandmaster usually had her fighting multiple opponents, often sending more in when the others were finished, and Brunnhilde was still shocking her at regular intervals during the fights, taking away a large amount of her concentration ( _ A real warrior doesn’t get distracted, real warriors don’t feel pain, and you want to live up to your name, don’t you? _ She wished Odin’s voice weren’t an ever present track in the back of her head, but was grateful that it had quieted so that where once it was a constantly jabbering nuisance it now only surfaced occasionally). She had been on Sakaar for a week now (or however long it had been- Hulk said time was weird here), and was still no closer to figuring out how, exactly, to get off of the stupid planet. She had a plan, she just couldn’t implement it without Brunnhilde or Loki, and both were very stubbornly avoiding her (but of course, both came to the arena to watch her fight- Brunnhilde because she got to shock her and Loki because, well, she didn’t know. He enjoyed watching the sport?)

Still, she was trying to find a way to do it without them, staying up all night and day thinking about it. Who needed sleep, anyway? (She did. Kind of desperately at this point. But that didn't matter.)

“Good fight. Reckon the Grandmaster will let you have another go at the champion?”

She sighed as Korg came up to her. She wasn’t sure, yet, whether or not she was thankful the Grandmaster hadn’t yet made her fight him. “Maybe. Not yet.”

“Oh, alright! Hey-”

“Bye!”

“Bye, scary lady!”

Norns damn that stupid pile of rocks for making her smile.

When she got back up to her room, Hulk was sitting with Brunnhilde, who scowled and got up to leave when she walked in. “Angry Girl! Stay?”

Hela saw her expression soften, and she went to go sit back down by Hulk. Hela sighed, and took off her armor, making her way to the jacuzzi. Not bothering to take anything but the metal and padding off, she sunk into the water fully clothed.

_ Honestly? I could get used to this. Just for the jacuzzi. _

“You know, you’re supposed to take your clothes  _ off _ when you get in the water, Majesty.”

“You know, you’re supposed to  _ not _ shock the contestants while they’re fighting.”

“Oh, you’ll win anyway. Hey big guy, pass me that- thanks.” She didn’t have to open her eyes to know that Brunnhilde had gotten her hands on another bottle.

“You know drinking is bad for you.”

“You know murder is bad for you too.”

“Says who?”

“Says the people who get murdered.”

“Well, just for the record, the only people I’ve killed since getting out of Hel have been the ones I was told to kill. You know, by the man you sold me to?”

“And those scrappers.”

Oh. Yes. She’d forgotten about them.

“They were trying to eat me, that doesn’t count.”

“Eh. I’ll give you that one.”

They all sat in silence for a few moments, and Hela enjoyed it immensely until it was interrupted again. “Death Lady say sorry.”

She opened an eye. “What?”

“Death Lady say sorry for smashing Angry Girl’s family.”

“I won’t apologize for defending myself.”

“And I won’t apologize for trying to stop a madwoman from breaking out of her prison.”

“Well, I won’t apologize for being what my father made me.”

“That’s not an excuse.”

“I’m not using it as an excuse.”

“Yes you are.”

“Well, how is it my fault?”

“You’re  _ deranged.” _

“You’re a useless drunk.”

“You’re a bitch.”

“Oh, no, I’m hurt. Get a medic.”

“Shut up.”

“Fine.”

“You said it was bad smash,” Hulk frowned, and she sighed again, opening both eyes this time. 

“Yes, it was. But there was a reason for it.”

“No good reason for bad smash.”

“No? Then why did you blame the scary red lady for when you screwed up?”

Hulk stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. “Red Lady not blamed. Hulk did the smash. Team should not be mad at Hulk when not his fault. But Hulk still say sorry.”

She and Brunnhilde both looked at him, and Brunnhilde snorted softly. “When did you get so smart, big guy?”

“Hulk always smart.”

No one said anything for a while, and Hela leaned back and tilted her eyes towards the ceiling. Should she- no. No, right? She didn’t- it wasn’t- but-

Why did developing a conscience have to be so confusing? (When had she started developing a conscience?) Couldn’t she just go back to fighting and killing anything that got in her way?

She could. She could forget this and kill Brunnhilde right now and take her device away. She’d risk getting kicked around by Hulk, but she was stronger now, she could make it to the ship in time to get off of Sakaar and take over Asgard. It would be easy. 

Then why didn’t she?

She wasn’t entirely sure. She felt- she didn’t feel content, exactly. She couldn’t remember ever feeling truly content with life. But this was as close as she’d ever gotten, or at least she thought. She hadn’t had the urge to kill anyone recently (except in the arena, but that didn’t  _ count _ ), not even Brunnhilde. Of course, there was still the underlying current of rage that boiled in her, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It wasn’t clouding her every thought until that was the only thing she could think of. It was  _ controllable _ , and now that it was, it was easier to see things clearly. The rage, of course, would always be there (she hadn’t yet learned to live without it), but right at that moment, she could ignore it.

And so, instead of taking down Brunnhilde and slaughtering the whole city and then moving on to Asgard like she would have a week ago, she closed her eyes, before lifting up her head and looking directly at where Brunnhilde and Hulk were sitting.

“I’m sorry.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hela continues to fail to escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!
> 
> i don't own any characters

“ _ What?” _

Brunnhilde (somewhere along the line, she had begun calling herself that again- as much as she hated the jolt back to reality she felt every time she did) shot to her feet in an instant, Hulk clambering up beside her. “You’re  _ sorry _ ? Where did that come from? Just a moment ago you were talking about  _ not apologizing _ , and now suddenly you’re-”

“Hulk was right.” Hulk, next to her, grinned. “I-” She stopped, as if trying to spit out something distasteful. “I never really thought about- destruction was destruction, there was nothing  _ bad _ about it, it’s all I knew how to  _ do _ in life. But. I just- it’s different. Somehow. So I’m sorry.”

Well. That was… unexpected. Hela was, always had been, raging fury and spiteful words and the occasional drunken party with the other Valkyries, she’d never said sorry for anything before in her life as far as Brunnhilde knew (except perhaps to her father. She hadn’t known either particularly well, but he seemed the kind of man to demand apologies for everything and, until right before her exile, Hela never seemed one to contradict him.) And now she was- she was  _ apologizing? _ For killing her sisters. She didn’t know if she should hit her or laugh.

She settled for doing nothing.

“Yay!” Hulk cheered, plopping back down. “Friends not hate each other anymore?”

She and Hela considered each other. She still wanted to hit her. Kind of. She would probably always want to hit her, Hela didn’t get any less annoying for apologizing and she knew it. But- murder was no longer the first thing that came to mind when she so much as thought Hela’s name.

She was growing soft.

She broke her gaze away and looked back down at Hulk, who was still looking between them and looking a bit like a hopeful child. “Yeah, big guy, we’re good.”

\----------------------------

“Lackey!”

“Loki.”

“Whatever. Have you seen your sister lately? Or at all?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “No. Why should I visit?” Then his eyes narrowed. “Why should you care? You hate her.”

The last several weeks, she and Loki had had a strange relationship- she didn’t  _ hate _ him, not with any burning passion, but she was overcome with the urge to hit something (preferably his face) whenever he came near her, so she wouldn’t call them friends. He was  _ slightly _ above Hela in the overall scheme of things.

Though, she reflected, she may have to reevaluate that now. Loki was, if possible, even more annoying than his elder sister.

“I’m just wondering, dumbass. I have to see her every time I go to get the big guy for training, you know. She looks just like you.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. You’re both very similar to a drowned rat.”

“Oh, shut up. She’s insane. I’m not  _ quite _ as bad.”

“Mm. How are things for you? Still sucking up to the Grandmaster?”

“And look at how far it’s gotten me.”

“Yes, congratulations, you get to join in on his orgy parties. I’m burning with jealousy.”

“You’re a piece of shit, you know that?”

“And proud of it. I’ve got to go now, Lackey, some of us have actual jobs to do, but let me know if you ever decide to visit your sister, hm? I need to be on guard in case you try to kill each other. Or take over the planet.”

She could practically  _ hear _ Loki rolling his eyes as she stepped away from him.

\------------------

“Death Lady want to leave.”

She jerked out of her haze. “Hmm?”

“Death Lady looking at quinjet.”

Oh. Yes, she had been doing that. For- several hours now, if the sun was any indication. “Well, I don’t want to be stuck here for the rest of my life.”

“Why not? Smash lots. Have fun.”

“I have to get back to Asgard.”

“Stay with Hulk and Angry Girl!”

She sighed, pulling her gaze from the window. Somehow, she didn’t feel the same…  _ fervor _ she used to about taking over Asgard and ruling. She’d never really  _ wanted _ to rule, anyway, but it still would have been nice to have had the option instead of being cast out. 

But she couldn’t stay here, as entertaining as the notion was. She couldn’t drown herself in fighting again when she’d just managed to get a clear head, she couldn’t be like Brunnhilde and drink herself into an early death on Sakaar, and those seemed to be the only two options on this Norns forsaken planet. And she had things to do- get Fenris, somehow, and maybe the rest of her army. Perhaps she could visit Midgard and see these curious ‘Avengers’ that Hulk was adamant about staying away from but couldn’t stop talking about. She was sure she could find plenty of things to entertain herself in a universe that had changed so drastically in the years since she’d been absent that it would be like exploring a completely different reality.

“I can’t stay. I’m not staying here the rest of my life.”

Hulk pouted and scuffed his foot on the ground, and Hela felt a strange twisting feeling in her stomach.

_ Damn it. _

“You could come with me, you know. Sakaar isn’t the only place where you’d be able to find a home. And Midg- Earth has probably changed since you left. Maybe they don’t hate you anymore.” If that were true, maybe Asgard didn’t hate her. Maybe.

Hulk grunted and plopped down next to her. “Earth always hate Hulk. And Hulk not going to leave Angry Girl.”

She shrugged. “We can bring her with us. There’s alcohol on Earth, right? And there have to be some people on Earth that don’t hate you. The Avengers, for one.”

“Like Banner better.”

“I’m still not entirely clear on who this Banner is, but I assure you, if we all went to Earth you could at least know that me and Brunnhilde far prefer you.”

He brightened considerably after this, but the conversation was over. They spent the rest of the day throwing the red ball back and forth.

\----------------------

“Brunnhilde?”

They were in the jacuzzi again. Hela didn’t  _ mean _ to spend so much time in there, but it was so relaxing. And warm. And this time, she had gotten Brunnhilde and Hulk to join her.

“What?” Brunnhilde asked distractedly, not looking up from when she was pushing a wave back and forth with Hulk (she didn’t pretend to understand the concept. All she knew was that Hulk was enjoying himself.)

“Have you ever thought about leaving Sakaar?”

This got her attention. Ignoring the noise of protest coming from Hulk, Brunnhilde turned to her. “And doing what?”

Hela shrugged. “Well, I don’t  _ know. _ Living?”

“Is this just because you want to leave?” Well, yes. She’d wanted to leave since she got to the planet (how long had it been? 2 weeks? 3?  _ 4 _ ? She’d lost track).

“Well, of course I want to leave! I’m not exactly here  _ voluntarily _ , but for all rights and purposes you  _ are _ and I want to know  _ why.” _

“I can forget here.”

“You can forget everywhere.”

“I know, but here- it was the first place I found after- after.” Hela didn’t ask for an elaboration. “And I never felt the need to leave.”

“It’s a trash planet.”

“So? I like it. Hulk likes it, too, don’t you, big guy?”

“Hulk likes to smash.”

“See? Why don’t you like it? You love fighting.”

“Yes, of course I love fighting, but that doesn’t mean that I want to be doing it all the time. I’ve never exactly gotten a break from it, except when I was in Hel.”

“Hela? Wanting a break from fighting? Is the world ending?”

“Oh, shush. And besides, I want to know what Thor’s doing. Presumably he made it to Asgard, but I hope he didn’t just forget that Loki and I were here.”

“Time is weird here. I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t even out of the Bifrost yet.”

“Well, still. You don’t want to see how the other realms have changed since you left?”

“Why would I?”

“Midgard has men with metal suits of armor that can fly and impenetrable shields. Don’t tell me you’re not even a little curious.”

“Hela, I’m not breaking you out of Sakaar so you can go take over Midgard.”

“What will it take to convince you that I don’t  _ want _ to take over Midgard?”

“I may not hate you, Majesty, but forgive me if I’m a little wary.”

Hela sighed and leaned her head back. This was  _ impossible _ . Even when they were no longer enemies, Brunnhilde was as stubborn as all hell.

“I hear they have good alcohol on Midgard.”

“They have good alcohol here, too.”

“This stuff is shit.”

“I know. But alcohol is alcohol.”

Well. She couldn’t argue with that.

Damn it.

\-------------------------

She was  _ stuck. _ Brunnhilde wouldn’t help her get off of the planet no matter how much she needled her about it. It was always the same argument- “I may not hate you, but I don’t  _ trust _ you”. And, sure, it was  _ nice _ that Brunnhilde no longer hated her (though she’d never admit it, and somehow it wasn’t just because she didn’t shock her nearly as much now). And she was enjoying herself on Sakaar, to an extent, she wouldn’t complain about the endless supply of alcohol and people to fight. But she could see where this would go if she stayed- she would end up sitting around in this room with Brunnhilde and Hulk and  _ maybe _ she could get herself to a scrapper position and end up like Brunnhilde, dragging people in to participate in the Grandmaster’s insane games for more money for alcohol.

And she didn’t want that. Not  _ really. _ And Brunnhilde and Hulk didn’t, either, but it was  _ easier _ to sit here on this trash planet and forget. She knew it- it was so tempting to drown out her father’s disappointed look and the feeling of his palm cracking across her face with bottle after bottle of whatever drink she could get her hands on. 

But. She still needed to leave. Hulk wouldn’t take much persuasion to come with her, and if Brunnhilde would just  _ trust _ that she wouldn’t commit genocide when they left, she would come too. 

Not to mention, she still hadn’t gotten her brother to talk to her. Or come to see her. Or have anything to do with her. It was frustrating. 

She would have to go back to the planning board. There must have been  _ something _ she had missed.

\-----------------------

“Still nothing?”

Heimdall shook his head. “No. I can’t get in touch with him.”

Thor sighed heavily, and ran a hand over his face. They had been trying to contact Loki for the last 3 days, to no avail. Heimdall said he was on a planet called Sakaar, but that was all he could see- the time on that planet apparently moved differently, making it difficult to get any other details.

Upon getting back to Asgard, Thor had immediately informed his people of Odin’s death and of Hela’s existence (he may be his father’s son, but he wasn’t going to keep secrets from his people). They were all alarmed (except for Heimdall), and the people had been preparing to go to battle since then. Meanwhile, he and Heimdall had been trying to get in touch with Loki- they knew Hela was on the same planet, and they needed an update, not to mention Thor wanted his brother back. 

He headed to the window and gazed out at Asgard. It had been a tense couple of days- there was no telling if Hela would come back and attempt to take over or slaughter everyone, and the people were understandably frightened.

His eye caught something below, and suddenly, he smiled. “I’ve got it. If we can’t get in touch with him mentally, we’ll send him a physical sign. Something he’ll be able to recognize. Could you call some of the palace blacksmiths…?”

\--------------------------------

Loki shot to his feet, peering across the trash heaps. He had been sitting on the roof of the Grandmaster’s palace- his position with him allowed him access to most parts of the city- not watching for anything in particular, just gazing up at the wormholes in the sky. He’d been on Sakaar for nearly 2 months now, and was enjoying the time immensely- his schedule consisted of sleeping, watching his sister fight, joining in with the Grandmaster’s parties, and sitting on the roof. It was  _ relaxing. _

And then he fell through the wormhole.

Not him- but a statue of him. The statue he’d had built during his time as king. Came right down through one of the wormholes and landed right on top of one of the piles of trash. It was big enough and obvious enough to be seen from the palace- before it fell on its face.

His first thought was, oh, how nice, Thor has thrown my statue off of the Bifrost, so much for sentimental attachment. But then he realized, no- Thor was petty, but he wasn’t  _ that _ petty. And knowing him he was worrying over his whereabouts, especially since he (presumably) knew that Hela was on the same planet. So this was a sign. Some misguided way of sending a message.

And now he would have to rush down there to get to it before the gold-hungry scrappers did.

_ Damnit, Thor. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! next one will be out soon


	6. Chapter 6: Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hela only slightly fails at escaping Sakaar, and possibly makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slight tw for blood/injuries, not described in any detail but just in case

“Let’s go.”

“Hmm?” Hela asked, not moving her gaze from where it was focused on throwing the ball back and forth.

“Let’s go. Leave. I’m done with this place.”

This caught her attention. The ball soared past her hands and smacked her in the chest. “What?”

“Sakaar. The Grandmaster. I’m done with it. You’re right, we need to leave. So let’s go.”

“Wha- just like that?”

“Just like that.”

“What brought about this sudden change of heart?”

Brunnhilde shrugged, and took another swig of her drink. “Some bloke got melted today. Happens, like, every single day, but for some reason this one just hit harder. He’s a maniac, you know?”

“Yes, I’ve been telling you for the last month.”

“I know, I know. But anyway. We’re gonna leave. You got a plan?”

“See that ship out there? We should be able to get on, that’s what brought Hulk here. I was thinking I could just- break the glass. Or something.”

Brunnhilde raised an eyebrow. “Majesty, you’ve been telling me you have a plan for, like, a month, and that’s it? Break the window and hop on a ship?”

“What did you expect? It’s efficient.”

“There are so many ways it could go wrong.”

“No, there aren’t.”

“Where are you going to go once you’ve gotten to the ship?”

“The giant portal.”

“The devil’s anus?”

Her eyes widened (her lips twitched up involuntarily). “I didn’t know that it was called that.”

“Well, it is. That tiny ship won’t make it through, you’re going to have to take one of the Grandmaster’s.”

“Which you don’t have access to?”

“Nope.”

“That one.”

They both turned to Hulk, who was pointing at one of the smaller portals. “What?”

“That one. Hulk go through that one. Come to Sakaar. Go back to Earth.”

Brunnhilde turned around and peered at the portal. “Yeah, seems about right. And you’ll be able to get the quinjet through there no problem, we could even take my ship.”

She frowned a bit. Midgard hadn’t been a part of her plan- she’d assumed they would be going to Asgard.  _ Did she even want- _

“Hela?”

“Hm? Oh. Yes. Which one would you rather take?” Midgard  _ had _ been part of her plan. Eventually. Once she’d gone to Asgard.

But why not now?

“Quinjet’ll probably be better stocked, I’ve got nothing but alcohol on mine. But mine will get through the portal easier, it was made for flying through space and that wasn’t.”

Hela nodded. “Ok. Ok, we’ll stop by the Quinjet, grab what we need, and run to your ship.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Right. Can I break the glass? I want to break the glass.”

“Go ahead. But, wait-” She unclipped the fob from her belt, and Hela tensed before relaxing again. Once the button had been pressed, she tore it off of her neck and crushed it under her boot. “Alright. Now do it.”

Hm. How to- ah, that could work. “Hulk, could I have that ball?”

He grunted and handed it to her. It should be heavy enough to-  _ ow. _

Brunnhilde and Hulk both laughed, and she scowled up at them from where she’d been knocked on the floor. By the ball. “Shut up, you two.” She kicked at where the ball had made a crack, and the glass gave in.

“Alright. We’ve got limited time before the Grandmaster figures out that his champion’s gone missing, so we have to be quick. Once we get to the Quinjet, we’ll put on some sort of disguise. Or something. Hulk may be an issue. Maybe we should’ve thought this out more.”

“Too late now. How are we going to get down?”

“We’ll have to- woah!”

Hela’s stomach lurched as a large hand grabbed her around the middle and picked her up. Looking to her right, she could see Brunnhilde in the same position. Hulk grinned, and jumped out of the window.

\--------------------

After she’d gotten picked up, Brunnhilde decided that she was just going to close her eyes and hold on for dear life. There wasn’t much else she could do.

The ride was over in a matter of seconds, and Hulk skidded to a stop. She opened her eyes to find Hela stumbling to the ground, looking a bit sick. Hulk let her down next to the Quinjet.

“Alright,” she gulped once she’d regained her footing. “Let’s go get some shit.”

“Yep,” Hela gasped. Then, her eyes focused on something behind Brunnhilde.

“What-”

“Get down!”

Brunnhilde got pushed down, face smacking into the gravel. She heard Hulk roaring, and bones crunching. Groaning, she got up. “What- what happened?”

“Bad man.”

She squinted at the mound on the ground near Hulk. There was a crumpled heap- wearing Scrapper clothing. Those damn things.

“Ugh. Alright, well, we’ll just have to- Hela. Where’s Hela?”

She looked back to where she’d fallen.

_ Oh, shit. _

“Hela!” Her voice sounded a bit desperate, but she didn’t care. Hela was sprawled out on the ground, a bullet wound in her shoulder and blood pooling around her. She got down to her side in an instant and tried to stop the bleeding. Hela groaned.

“Ow…”

“Don’t talk. How do you stop this-”

“‘Rn’t the Valk’rie s’posed to be trained ‘n healing?”

“Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I’ve spent the last  _ several  _ years of my life trying to  _ wipe all of that out of my mind _ !”

“ _ Fuck.” _

“Why did you have to get yourself shot, you big idiot?”

“Death Lady hurt?”

She looked up at Hulk. His face was scrunched up, as if in deep concentration. “Yeah, big guy, she’ll be fine. You’ll be fine, right?”

“Mm. ‘ve gotten sho’ befre.”

“Not encouraging.”

“Death Lady needs help?”

“Hulk, buddy, you can’t help right now, just- stay back, alright?”

Hands trembling a bit, she pressed down on the wound. She had no idea what she was doing- alcohol had muddled up her brain, and all memories of healing were far off in the distance. She’d never paid much attention to those lessons, anyway, always making room for weapons and combat training instead. It hadn’t seemed important, at the time.

_ Damnit. _

“Hulk help!”

“No, bud- shit. Are you alright?”

Hulk was stumbling around, shaking his head. He collapsed down to the ground. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit- Hela, stay conscious, please, I can’t have both of you knocked out-” Hela made a small noise of affirmation.

“Hulk, what’s going on?”

He didn’t answer, still shaking his head as if trying to dislodge something. Brunnhilde took a deep breath and turned back to Hela. “Alright, come on, let’s get you on the ship. Maybe they’ve got some medical supplies in- what the fuck?”

Hulk was  _ shrinking. _ Right before her eyes. Growing smaller and smaller and  _ less green _ . She watched the transformation with awe until, instead of Hulk, a man stood in his place.

“Who the hell are you?”

The man whipped around and his eyes widened when he saw her. “Who are  _ you?” _

“I’m Brunnhilde. Angry Girl. What did you do with Hulk?”

He paled. “Oh, god. Oh- where am I? What’s happening? What is- why are we surrounded by trash? Who is- oh, god, is she dying? Who is she? Why am I here? What  _ year _ is it?”

Oh. Right. Hela. She grabbed his arm and pulled him down. “Forget all that. Help her.”

He still looked incredibly bewildered, but blinked a few times to focus himself. “Right. Dying person.”

“She’s not dying!”

The man leaned over and examined the wound. “No, you’re right, she’s not dying. We have to get her- is that the quinjet? Please tell me we’ve still got- here, help me carry her. Grab her legs.” She did so, and got Hela into the quinjet, setting her on a stretcher. “Alright. There should be some supplies in that drawer over there- yep. Grab the scalpel.”

  
“Why- oh. Oh, god.” She wasn’t  _ nearly _ drunk enough for this. She hadn’t had to watch a medical procedure in- in  _ years. _

Taking a steadying breath, she picked up the scalpel.

\-------------------

_ Ow. _

Hela blinked open her eyes. “Wha-”

“Oh my god, she’s awake. Can you hear me?”

“Hela! Hela, sit back down, I swear to the Norns if you get shot one more time-”

“Who- where am I?”

“The Quinjet. Remember?”

Her eyes adjusted to find Brunnhilde extremely close to her face. “Oh. Right. Where’s Hulk?”

Brunnhilde relaxed, and collapsed back down into a chair. “Good question. Where  _ is _ Hulk? You haven’t explained that.”

“You haven’t asked.”

“Fair. So….”

Hela squinted up at the man in the background. He was wearing a strange shirt and was fiddling uncomfortably with his sleeves, “Er. I’m Bruce. Bruce Banner. I’m-”

“ _ You’re _ Banner? You’re the bloke that Hulk’s always talking about?”

“Ah. Yeah. The oth- Hulk. He’s, um… it’s hard to explain. I did an experiment, and it went wrong, and- whenever I get mad, he comes out. He’s kind of like an alternate personality. Except- he’s never been this in control before. I don’t even know how long I’ve been in there. Or why he let me out.”

She frowned. That- actually made things a lot easier to understand. And raised way more questions, but it did clear some things up.

She looked at Brunnhilde, who was scowling a bit and tapping a finger on her glass. “He let you out because he wanted to help,” Hela realized. “He told me that once. That you could help the team in ways that he couldn’t. You’re a healer? Why- oh. Right.” She’d gotten shot.

Why had she gotten shot? She couldn’t quite- ah. That’s why Brunnhilde wasn’t looking her in the eye. Had she- had she  _ jumped in front of her _ ? 

She was growing soft.

“Could I get some answers? Who are you people? Where am I?”

She sighed, and looked back over at Brunnhilde, who lifted her gaze long enough to nod. “You’re on a planet called Sakaar.”

“I’m on another  _ planet _ ?”

“Yes. My name is Hela. I’m Thor’s older sister, I believe you know him?”

His brow furrowed. “Thor never told me he had a sister.”

“He didn’t know. My father locked me up before he was born and never told him of my existence.”

“Oh. That’s. That’s messed up.”

“Mm. I’m aware. But that’s not important- what’s important is that we’ve wasted time here, and we need to get to Brunnhilde’s ship and get off of this stupid planet.”

“Hela, you got  _ shot, _ that’s not a waste of time.”

“Whatever. Hu- Banner. We’re going to Midgard, and we’re bringing you with us.”

“Wh- I mean, I- I don’t have a problem with that, but-”

“Come on- oh Norns.” She had gotten up, only to feel pain lancing through her shoulder. 

“Hela, you’re in no state-”

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

\----------------------

This was insane. This was  _ crazy. _ He was in space. Bruce Banner. Firm citizen of  _ Earth _ and happy to stay there, thank you very much, until the other guy had apparently  _ flown to an alien planet _ and become a  _ gladiator _ (Brunnhilde and Hela filled him in as they walked.) And now they were going to go get a ship and fly through a wormhole to get back to Earth, where hopefully it had only been a couple of years and not  _ decades _ . 

They were weaving through the city, Brunnhilde taking the lead and Hela in the rear. Hela had shoved on a pair of Tony’s glasses and one of Nat’s old jackets over her armor and called it a disguise. 

She didn’t look very much like Thor. Loki, definitely, they both had the same dark hair and affinity for green, but not Thor. But she acted a bit like Thor had at the beginning, when he’d been angrier and laughed at them all for being petty, tiny humans. Except worse and better at the same time. She was more haughty, and looked much more dangerous, but there was something quieter about her. He wondered if she’d been angrier before but calmed down. He wondered why.

Brunnhilde kept glancing back at him, as if trying to reconcile his image with that of the other guy’s. It must have been weird- like how seeing Hulk was strange for people, but the opposite. He wondered how much Hulk had told them about him, and whether or not it was good.

“IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! **”** He let out a bit of an undignified squeak at the loud voice echoing over the street. The boom of fireworks went off behind him, and he looked up just in time to see a spaceship hurtling across the city. The fireworks scattered on the windshields of other ships, seemingly chasing after that one, distracting some and causing them to crash into nearby buildings.

“What’s that?”

“That’s the Grandmaster’s private ship!”

Hela frowned. “Why is it being chased?”

Brunnhilde squinted up at it. “I think- oh, Norns. It’s your brother. I can’t think of anyone else who would have access. Or who would decide to steal the orgy ship.”

“I’m sorry, the  _ what? _ ” Bruce squeaked. 

“The Grandmaster uses that ship for his good times, orgies and things like that.”

“Right. And my brother knew how to get onto that ship because…?”

Brunnhilde shrugged. “He was a guest of the Grandmaster. He didn’t  _ have  _ to join in, but it’s, ah, highly encouraged. I doubt he’ll be invited again, though.”

“Citizens of Sakaar.” Bruce jumped again when a huge hologram appeared on what seemed to be the palace. “Someone has not only stolen my beloved champion, but my favorite ship as well. Not to mention, the prisoners have started a terrible insurgency! That Lady Death is behind it all- take to the streets. Find them, and bring them back to me, and you will be rewarded.”

“ _ That’s _ the guy we all used to work for?” Bruce demanded.

“It’s the  _ Goddess of Death _ ,” Hela grumbled.

“I need way more alcohol for this,” Brunnhilde muttered, taking another sip from her bottle.

Bruce sighed. Why did he get stuck with these people?

“Alright,” Hela breathed, running a hand through her hair and adjusting the pack of supplies on her back. “Come on. We’re almost to your ship, we can make it if we hurry.”

“What do you think we’ve been  _ doing, _ Majesty, taking a leisurely stroll?”

“Shut up and walk, Brunnhilde.”

He couldn’t figure them out. They seemed a bit like Steve and Tony- always fighting, always arguing, always making quips at each other, but with the same team spirit. You couldn’t fake the horrified look Brunnhilde had worn when Hela had gotten shot.

Some people, he decided, just liked tough love. They must be some of those people.

\--------------------

“Alright. We’re here.”

Hela breathed a sigh of relief. The last few minutes of their walk had been tense, with people screaming in the streets and Banner looking more and more anxious with every passing second. Much as she preferred Hulk, it would have been a disaster if he’d appeared in the middle of the street, so she was glad Banner was able to keep calm.

“Good. Brunnhilde, why is there so much alcohol on this ship?”

She rolled her eyes. “Why do you think, Majesty? Come on, clear a seat and sit down. Dump the stuff on the floor.” Hela winced a bit at the chaos of it all, but managed to find a relatively clean section of the ship and made herself comfortable.

Banner shifted uncomfortably before sitting across from her. Joy.

“Alright. Everyone buckled in? Good. Let’s go.”

Her stomach lurched as the ship jerked into the air. “Sorry! I like to take her a bit rough.”

“Lovely.” Banner looked a little sick. Wordlessly, she picked out a mostly clean sack from the mess on the floor and handed it to him.

Oh, Norns, this was going to be an interesting trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!


End file.
